COATESVILLE - Count Coatesville High head football coach Matthew Ortega among the many stunned by last weekend’s football game played at Downingtown’s Kottmeyer Stadium.

In that game, one of the Red Raiders’ biggest rivals, top-seeded Downingtown East, was ushered out of the District One Class AAAA playoffs by the unheralded No. 16 seed Wissahickon.

In becoming just the third No. 16 seed to oust a No. 1 in the opening round of the AAAA tourney, the Trojans also became the first team from the Suburban One League’s American Conference to win a Class AAAA football playoff game since 2001, when Cheltenham beat Abington Heights at a time when the District One playoff bracket included schools from with Districts 2 and 4.

And Ortega, like most, had a hard time believing it was real.

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“I didn’t know that much about Wissahickon,” Ortega said, “so yes, I was shocked, until I saw them on film and I saw a team that when its offense is clicking, is real tough to beat.”

Wissahickon (8-3) will attempt to author another shocker Friday night (7:00) at Coatesville High School when it takes on No. 9 Red Raiders (9-2) in the quarterfinal round of the D-1 postseason.

So can lightning strike twice? Can Cinderella, now safely ensconced in her glass slipper, now find a matching Gucci bag?

But in truth, Cappa said he and his Trojans coaches have done very little smiling since last Friday night.

“It was a really exciting win, it was really fun,” Cappa said. “But when Saturday came around and we started looking at film on Coatesville, that happiness died down pretty quickly.

“The playoffs are all about how you’re playing going in, and right now Coatesville might be one of the best teams in the state.”

If so, the Raiders became a juggernaut almost out of necessity.

At the start of the year, the Coatesville coaching staff expressed its desire to move the ball behind a power running game. But things changed.

“We knew we had skill kids,” Ortega said, “but we also knew that if you want to make it far in District One, you have to be able to run the football.”

The problem was, any opposition coaching staff with a working DVD player saw the Raiders’ scheme and defenses began bringing everyone short of the school mascot to the line of scrimmage.

“So we began spreading things out, going to some no-huddle,” Ortega said, “and teams started dropping eight people into coverage. So we went back to running the ball.”

Somewhere along the line, the running team that became a throwing team that became a running team became one of the district’s most balanced teams.

They held on to the no-huddle spread and set out baffling defensive coordinators. And they did so at a ferocious pace.

“There are times when we’ve tried to slow things down,” Ortega said, “but that hasn’t always worked for the best. The kids like to play fast.”

“Scheme-wise, they’re very similar to Downingtown East,” Cappa said, “but player-wise, they have completely different types of players. Coatesville has a lot more team speed, and they’re real big on both sides of the ball.

“When you play them, you can’t bring as much pressure because, with their team speed, they can break something and go. You better keep them in front of you and come up and make the tackle.”

Cappa is very much impressed with Raiders quarterback Emmitt Hunt, who runs the gun spread to perfection.

“He’s outstanding,” Cappa said. “He has to be one of the best in the area. What stands out to me is his toughness. He’ll stand in the pocket, take a hit and still throw a good ball and complete the pass.”

But he’s far from the Coatesville’s only weapon. Running back Daquan Worley has rushed for better than 200 yards in two of his team’s last three games, while Chris Jones is a big-play receiver.

“Their offense is so explosive,” Cappa said.

For Coatesville’s defense, the chore appears basic, although not exactly easy. The Raiders must stop the Trojans’ ground game.

“They’re very good up front and they run the ball very effectively,” Ortega said of the Trojans. “What makes them so good is that you can see their guys are plugged into a system. Everybody knows their role. That’s the first thing you think when you see them is, you have to stop the run game.

“But they also have a sneaky passing game, which is set up by the run.”

The Trojans run game is led by 1,000-yard back Dan Murphy, who is back after missing a segment of last week’s game with a dislocated finger. The “sneaky” passer is quarterback Randy Frankenfield, although the Trojans did major damage to Downingtown East with backup quarterback Dave Stellato, who gouged East as both a second option in the run game, and again as a wildcat quarterback on the game’s final, fateful drive.

“Offensively, that’s been our style all year,” Cappa said. “Our goal is to have the ball and establish some drives. Naturally, you want to keep their offense off the field as much as possible.”

And how might the game unfold?

Look for the Raiders to do what they do best, spread the field and make the Trojans defense pick its poison - either gang up to stop the run and yield the quick strike or drop defenders in coverage and get serious doses of Worley and the ground game.

Ideally, the Trojans defenders would like to keep the Coatesville playmakers in front of them and hope the Raiders get antsy to hit a quick strike and make a mistake.

Offensively, Wissahickon has to establish some semblance of a running game, if only to set up play action.

The Raiders defense must force a lot of third-and-longs and make Wissahickon beat them with the pass.

And can the Trojans do it again? Can they summon the level of physical and mental play necessary to upset a “better” team two weeks in a row?

“It could go either way,” offered Ortega. “They may have left their hearts on the field last week and could come out a little flat. Or what happened last week could give them the confidence to play even better.

“I think we’re going to get their best effort and I think it’s going to be a heckuva football game.”

“Don’t think Coatesville is not going to come into the game looking to knock us out,” Cappa said. “But I think our guys will be ready.

“We saw what happened last week when a team might not be ready to play.”